Saturday, August 15, 2009

OUR nation is now engaged in a great debate about the future of health care in America. And over the past few weeks, much of the media attention has been focused on the loudest voices. What we haven’t heard are the voices of the millions upon millions of Americans who quietly struggle every day with a system that often works better for the health-insurance companies than it does for them.

These are people like Lori Hitchcock, whom I met in New Hampshire last week. Lori is currently self-employed and trying to start a business, but because she has hepatitis C, she cannot find an insurance company that will cover her. Another woman testified that an insurance company would not cover illnesses related to her internal organs because of an accident she had when she was 5 years old. A man lost his health coverage in the middle of chemotherapy because the insurance company discovered that he had gallstones, which he hadn’t known about when he applied for his policy. Because his treatment was delayed, he died.

I hear more and more stories like these every single day, and it is why we are acting so urgently to pass health-insurance reform this year. I don’t have to explain to the nearly 46 million Americans who don’t have health insurance how important this is. But it’s just as important for Americans who do have health insurance.

There are four main ways the reform we’re proposing will provide more stability and security to every American.

First, if you don’t have health insurance, you will have a choice of high-quality, affordable coverage for yourself and your family — coverage that will stay with you whether you move, change your job or lose your job.

Second, reform will finally bring skyrocketing health care costs under control, which will mean real savings for families, businesses and our government. We’ll cut hundreds of billions of dollars in waste and inefficiency in federal health programs like Medicare and Medicaid and in unwarranted subsidies to insurance companies that do nothing to improve care and everything to improve their profits. read more here....

At a town meeting hosted by Senator Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania resident stood up to say that the health care debate has "awakened the sleeping giant."

Not exactly.

What's it's done, it seems, is stirred a hornets nest, and uncovered disturbing attitudes and emotions that have nothing to do with policy.

Are we really still debating health care when a man brings a handgun to a church where the President is speaking?

How does a swastika spray-painted on a Congressman's office further a discussion about Medicare?

These are tough and challenging times and lots of people are scared about their jobs and the economy. But we can't let fear and frankly ignorance - drown out the serious debate that needs to take place - about an issue that affects the lives of millions of people.

It's time for everyone to take a deep breath and to focus on the task at hand before this sideshow drowns out the main event.

Really, he is touting a co-op plan which caters specifically to the insurance companies and don't hold their feet to the fire for consumers. But again, when you take heavy money from the insurance lobbyists, as we saw with Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), we see who really pull the strings around here.

Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D. presented his cooperative health care proposal here Thursday and told an audience of 100 that he would not vote for a government-run health care program.

Conrad stopped in Carrington as part of his a statewide tour touting the Senate Finance Committee’s cooperative health care proposal.

The proposal has received bipartisan support for several reasons, he said. The cooperative would offer a non-profit insurance option to compete with private health care. It would not be government run, he said.

Individuals, families and small business owners could stick with their current provider, or they could opt for the cooperative plan.

Health care issues are a concern in the country and North Dakota, Conrad said. A North Dakota family of four currently pays more than $11,000 for health insurance. By 2016, Conrad predicted health insurance costs could almost double to more than $20,000 for a family of four.

This is a diary from Daily Kos. From an individual who HAS health care. His family has had a history of heart problems, with most of them dying at an early age from a heart attack. His doctor sent him immediately to a cardiologist, the cardiologist scheduled a nuclear stress test which would give a clear picture of the heart and any blockages. Guess what happened? The insurance company MADE THE DECISION that he did not need it. Is this the type of health care we want in this country? An insurance bean counter deciding a procedure over a cardiologist? CHANGE IS NEEDED.

I am a 46 year old man with a family history of early death as a result of heart attacks. I am of normal weight and exercise a few days a week. I have been having a problem breathing properly after even moderate exertion. My general practioner was concerned enough to refer me to a cardiologist and even demanded that I see the cardiologist on the day of my yearly physical.

The cardiologist was able to see me and suggested a nuclear stress test which would give a clear picture of the heart and any blockages. He suggested that my symptoms and family history were significant enough to warrant that test. My grandfather was dead at 50 of a heart attack, his son dead at 43 of a heart attack and his grandson also dead at 43 of a heart attack. That history coupled with my recent poor breathing was alarming enough to demand the test.

Today they called and cancelled the test. It seems my carrier Aetna does not believe I need the test and have denied the claim. I was told by the doctor's office that since I had not had any haert events that they would not cover this. In essence I had not had a heart attack yet so this test was not necessary.

This is the health care system in America today and yet we have these town hall morons screaming about rationing of health care. What the hell do you call what they just did to me? Does anyone think the government would have denied this test?

My grandmother had a saying "An empty can makes the loudest noise" and seeing these uninformed town hall morons killing our nations first real chance at reform is infuriating. It seems loud and stupid wins over reason and the insurance companies laugh all the way to the bank and people like me wait to have a heart event so that I can get the needed tests, that is if I live after the event.

I know this is a short diary but my experience is the same as millions of Americans at the mercy of profit driven insurance companies. It is stories like mine that need to be told. Now I will walk around not really knowing if I am OK and my first indication that I am not could very well be my last but hey some pig at Aetna just received a bonus to deny me care.

Rachel Maddow has been on fire exposing these people. This PR Firm was behind the George H. W. Bush "Willie Horton" ad. This is racism to the core. This is about DISTRACTION and not having a conversation about health care.

Let's talk about Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA). He has been a proponet for keeping the dialogue open about health care reform. President Obama gave him a shout out for working it through at his NH town hall. He does a bait and switch and we saw the above happen. Why?

Influence. He has taken a large amount of lobbyist money from the health care industries. He did exactly what his Democratic opponent Bob Krause said he would. From the Rachel Maddow Show, Krause specifically said that Grassley wanted an EXCUSE to pull away from the negotiations. He did not want to own it, though he is a moderate republican and has been working for it. Krause also said that Grassley has taken huge amounts of money from the insurance industry and if he wants to keep it he will disavow his association with this health care bill. Well lookey here, this is what Grassley is saying NOW:

"I'm not walking away from the table; I'm being pushed away from the table," Grassley said in Afton, Iowa, warning that Democrats might go it alone on health care.

Grassley's Iowa road show shows just why Democrats feared this August recess.

While, I agree about the need of having a cohesive health care bill, where all Democrats are on the same page, with ONE BILL, Obama White House nor the Democrats should be surprised at Grassley. Grassley is up for his seat in 2010, he has to do what is best for GRASSLEY to remain in the distinguished senate, that is lie if he must.

If there is any doubt that President Barack Obama’s plan to overhaul U.S. health care is the hottest topic in Congress, just ask the 3,300 lobbyists who have lined up to work on the issue.

That’s six lobbyists for each of the 535 members of the House and Senate, according to Senate records, and three times the number of people registered to lobby on defense. More than 1,500 organizations have health-care lobbyists, and about three more are signing up each day. Every one of the 10 biggest lobbying firms by revenue is involved in an effort that could affect 17 percent of the U.S. economy.

These groups spent $263.4 million on lobbying during the first six months of 2009, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based research group, more than any other industry. They spent $241.4 million during the same period of 2008. Drugmakers alone spent $134.5 million, 64 percent more than the next biggest-spenders, oil and gas companies.

You read that? $263.4M for the last six months. The pressure is on. But what needs to happen is we, the people, not only show up at these town hall meetings but to continue to call, email and FAX these congress critters. Doing it ONE TIME is not enough, it should be DAILY.

This is why the fire must be put on congress. The Democrats must grow a steel spine and pass this legislation. Why? Because if our health care system was so great, why are we having in the hundreds of thousands show up in the Los Angeles area for FREE HEALTH CARE.

The King Rushs, Glenn Becks, Katy Abrams, GOPers, insurance lobbyists, etc., don't care about the thousands of folks that showed up in an urban area for free health care nor do they care about the thousands of people that show up every year at the Wise, VA for free health care.

Forget these orchestrated incidents at these town hall meetings. The total responsibility should be on the congress. You need to contact them EVERY SINGLE DAY. Their feet need to be held to the fire because they are crafting the bill and they must VOTE.

We are witnessing the most outrageous excuse for greed in this country at the hands of the insurance lobbyists. And we all should be saying, together, NOT THIS TIME.

If we don't, yes there will be hell to pay for the Democratic side, but more importantly we will lose the many who came through for President Obama and the Democrats in 2008.

Remember, what is the Republican health care plan? They were in charge in congress for years, yet they have never done anything with health care with the exception of taking their lobbyists money. The Republican plan, RIGHT NOW is to do everything in their power to DEFEAT this bill. Remember, they are the minority so in a nut shell, fuck 'em. The ones we need to target are the Democrats, as we see the GOP operatives are ALREADY DOING THAT.

Please, for God's sake, stop trying to talk to a party that never have and never will give a rat's ass about health care reform. That bait and switch from Grassley, yesterday, should be the HANDWRITING ON THE WALL. Move on without the Republicans. If they don't get it, fine. That is on them. But please, Obama White House stop making a mockery of yourselves because in the end, these Republicans don't give a shit. These Republicans have no moral courage or leadership to do the right thing. The right thing is to denounce all this rhetoric at these town hall meetings; instead they are mum and have nothing to say.

The obstructions do not want health care reform or health insurance reform. They want business as usual; they are with the status quo and their lobbyists cronies. It is time to cut them at the knees and get on with it.

BI-PARTISIANSHIP IS A MYTH, DEMOCRATS, OBAMA WHITE HOUSE. GET ON WITH IT.

Sources have told WRAL News that they expect former U.S. Sen. John Edwards to admit that he is the father of his former mistress' 18-month-old daughter.

Edwards, a two-time Democratic presidential candidate, confessed last August to having an affair with Rielle Hunter, who served as a videographer on Edwards' 2008 campaign. He has denied fathering her daughter, saying his relationship with Hunter ended before the child was conceived.

The name of the girl's father isn't disclosed on her birth certificate.

Andrew Young, a long-time Edwards aide, initially claimed to be the father of Hunter's child, but he is reportedly writing a book in which he will claim Edwards is the father.

All of this pandemonium at these town hall meetings is highly and well orchestrated by the lobbyists groups of the insurance companies. We know this.

We don't like how the White House has been slower than a tortoise in any response. Right now the final say is out on whether these mob style tactics will work. Most Americans are pretty middle of the road and like to have conversations to discuss issues, not what we are seeing on television.

The main stream media has been all ginned up with these town hall meetings. Why? Because there is nothing else going on and why not show angry, mob style, people on television. Hell, even bring them on various shows to question them, give them a voice, give them a platform. That’s what is going on.

Former Democratic National Committee chair Howard Dean fired one of the clearest warning shots at hesitant Democratic lawmakers on Thursday, insisting that if the party was unable to produce a health care bill with a public plan, there would be electoral consequences.

"I do think there will be primaries as the result of all this, if the bill doesn't pass with a public option," Dean said, in a phone interview with the Huffington Post.

The former Vermont governor added the caveat that he thought "cooler heads" would ultimately prevail and that a government run option for insurance coverage would be passed. But his remarks are some of the most threatening yet to be directed at Democrats from within the party.

DAMN RIGHT.

Congress has the pleasure of having some of the best, cost efficient insurance in this country. They can pick and chose their plans to fit their families and cost needs. It is the best. For them to deny the country the same is down right disastrous.

The insurance companies are worried. The insurance companies are worried about the mass public shopping for a plan that is not THEIRS. If you don't understand all of this just watch the Bill Moyers, PBS program dedicated to why the insurance industry does NOT want to change. How the insurance companies are the ones who makes the decision on you and your family's health. How the doctors are TOLD what procedure will be covered and what will not. How small businesses have taken a large part of the brunt when it comes to insurance premiums. How the insurance companies look at individuals as "bean counters" and don't blink an eye if they have to remove you and your family from their insurance roll. And how the insurance companies bottom line in all of this is about their PROFIT and not a PATIENT'S health.

Democrats need to grow a steel spine and I mean quick. There will be NO TOLERANCE for anything less than a public option and I mean a robust one, not a CO-OP.

Democrats we worked our ASSES off to get you elected. Some of you, well, we could frankly CARE LESS, but voted for you because you have the (D) beside your name. Now, with this show down, you better SHOW UP. We understand that you have to take a hard vote, because it will be for some in their districts, but never the less you must take it. You must remember that everyone in this country, which is the majority do not have the luxury as you for health care. Many are not insured or vastly UNDER INSURED. This is a moral vote here. It is a vote that people in this country need desperately.

Democrats we gave you a lot of money. We know there are many who are compromised by the lobbyists and insurance companies. Let me be clear, we know who you are and are watching your actions very closely. If you crater and fold, don't expect us to be there to pick you up. Simple as that.

Democrats you have the majority. How in the hell do you think you got it? It was from voters all across the aisle who voted for you and CHANGE. If you whimper, fail, fall you will not have us there to pick you up. We know the heat in the kitchen is hot right now, but that is LIFE, you keep on keepin' on and we expect, demand that you do the right thing.

Lastly, President Obama.

Please, for God's sake, stop trying to talk to a party that never have and never will give a rat's ass about health care reform. That bait and switch from Grassley, yesterday, should be the HANDWRITING ON THE WALL. Move on without the Republicans. If they don't get it, fine. That is on them. But please, Obama White House stop making a mockery of yourselves because in the end, these Republicans don't give a shit. These Republicans have no moral courage or leadership to do the right thing. The right thing is to denounce all this rhetoric at these town hall meetings; instead they are mum and have nothing to say.

The obstructions do not want health care reform or health insurance reform. They want business as usual; they are with the status quo and their lobbyists cronies. It is time to cut them at the knees and get on with it.

It says the White House agreed to oppose any congressional efforts to use the government's leverage to bargain for lower drug prices or import drugs from Canada -- and also agreed not to pursue Medicare rebates or shift some drugs from Medicare Part B to Medicare Part D, which would cost Big Pharma billions in reduced reimbursements.

In exchange, the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers Association (PhRMA) agreed to cut $80 billion in projected costs to taxpayers and senior citizens over ten years. Or, as the memo says: "Commitment of up to $80 billion, but not more than $80 billion."

The problem with the Obama Administration is a couple. First, Obama did campaign on lower drug costs and this deal with Big PhRMa is business as usual. Second, Obama campaigned on transparency and they are surely not being transparent here.

Critics on Capitol Hill and online responded with outrage at the reports that Obama had gone behind their backs and sold the reform movement short. Furthermore, the deal seemed to be a betrayal of several promises made by then-Sen. Obama during the presidential campaign, among them that he would use the power of government to drive down the costs of drugs to Medicare and that negotiations would be conducted in the open.

President Obama said that health care legislation would be hard and I see how deals can be cut, but these are the same jokers that have continued to turn the knife in the public's back FOR YEARS. There are seniors out here right now who must decide if they will spend their money on food or their medicine because Medicare does not cover everything. My aunt's monthly medicine bill exceeds $600.00 a month, that is not covered by Medicare. While Medicare is a great program, it does not cover all prescription medication costs, especially for many seniors who are not well off, wealthy but strapped on a very tight monthly budget.

This deal reeks of Rahm Emanuel all over it, I may be wrong but my gut tells me I am right. This deal, to me is just wrong.

A new coalition this morning is launching $12 million in TV ads to support President Obama’s health-reform plan, in the opening wave of a planned tens of millions of dollars this fall. The new group, funded largely by PhRMA, is called Americans for Stable Quality Care. It includes some odd bedfellows: the American Medical Association, FamiliesUSA, the Federation of American Hospitals, PhRMA and SEIU.

It’s airing in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota and Virginia. The first buy is expected to run for two weeks, with a weekly spend of around $3 million.

Santorum is a strong neoconservative who represented Pennsylvania in the House of Representatives and the Senate over a 16-year period and rose to the No. 3 leadership position among Republicans.

Santorum once grouped gay sex with incest, polygamy, and bestiality, and he believes consenting adults have no constitutional right to privacy when it comes to sexual behavior. He is a strong supporter of teaching intelligent design. He is anti-gay, anti-immigrant—supporting the most extreme anti-immigrant legislative proposals though he is the son of an Italian immigrant father—antiabortion, and anti-anything that smacks of progressive thinking, centrism, bipartisanship, or moderation in the Republican Party.

Santorum was one of only two senators who voted against Robert Gates to be secretary of Defense because Gates advocated talking to Iran and Syria, which Santorum said would be talking to “radical Islam” and would be a grievous error.

Santorum represents, in my view, much of what is wrong the in the Republican Party. While I disagree with him on some fundamental issues, I am much more concerned with his lack of character.

OK, just reading that is enough for many to just keep stepping on past Santorum, but the Republican Party has issues. There are many Rick Santorums' running around in the Republican Party. We see many of them showing up at these town hall meetings, they take marching orders from the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Hannity and in the end the elected officials of the Republican Party will not dare cross these people. But the following is enough for MANY to just say NO to Santorum.

I’m a pretty tolerant guy, but beyond his ideology, some of Santorum’s behavior is just a little bizarre. For example, Santorum has six children. In 1996, he had son born prematurely who lived for only two hours. He and wife brought the child home and introduced the dead infant to the rest of their children as “your brother Gabriel” and slept with the body overnight.

Despite his actions and extreme ideology, and the fact that he was defeated in his bid for re-election by the widest margin of any incumbent senator since 1980, Rick Santorum should be taken seriously. He is articulate, focused, and a tenacious campaigner. And ideological conservatives love him. His base will be narrow but passionate. They will mobilize and they will vote. Especially in early primary states like Iowa and South Carolina.

And that means there’s one word that should come to mind when thinking about a Rick Santorum presidential candidacy: dangerous.

Santorum taps right into that narrow part of the Republican Party that has strangled the party in attempting any moderation or centrist views. And McKinnon is RIGHT. Those voters will churn out in record numbers in the states like Iowa and South Carolina, giving any moderate a headache that will attempt to run for the Republican nomination.

Finally, Santorum's viewpoint, ideological beliefs are not main stream, it is extreme, that is why Rick Santorum is dangerous.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who was kindly touted by President Barack Obama as one who is working at bi-partisianship for health care, at the New Hampshire town hall meeting yesterday, provided a 360 degree statement today.

Forget about these Republicans. I mean the ones who are not honest brokers and that is MOST OF THEM.

Senator Chuck Grassley backing up the "Death Panel" rumor, which has been debunked totally.

Government program to pull the plug on Grandma. Straight up talking points.

President Obama, we have watched you try to build consensus, but how can you be an honest broker when the other man or woman clearly IS NOT.

Time to cut them loose and let it go. This is starting to look ridiculous. We all know that the Republican Party, as a whole, don't gave a damn about any health care reform. But the American public DOES.

Let it go.

In closing, Arianna Huffington sums it up TOTALLY. I hope you are LISTENING, President Obama.

Katy Abrams, I am talking to you, from Arlen Specter's town hall meeting. If you have to read your scripted answers on television from a piece of paper, maybe you don't really know what you are talking about. Katy Abrams proved today what a ditto head is all about. And O'Donnell was KIND.

**note** Harvey Milk's award is accepted by his nephew, Stuart Milk; Senator Ted Kennedy's award is accepted by his daughter, Kara; Jack Kemp's award is accepted by his wife, Joanne

President Barack Obama awarded the nation's highest civilian honor to 16 "agents of change" on Wednesday, highlighting their accomplishments as examples of the heights a person can reach and the difference they can make in the lives of others.

"What unites them is a belief ... that our lives are what we make of them, that no barriers of race, gender or physical infirmity can restrain the human spirit, and that the truest test of a person's life is what we do for one another," Obama said at a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, overflowing with guests as well as White House aides who came to glimpse the celebrities in their midst.

"The recipients of the Medal of Freedom did not set out to win this or any other award. They did not set out in pursuit of glory or fame or riches," the president continued. "Rather they set out, guided by passion, committed to hard work, aided by persistence, often with few advantages but the gifts, grace and good name God gave them." read more here....

And does anyone NOW believe that these people are so concerned about health care? They are using an important issue to mask, hide their real feelings. Instead of straight up putting on the white sheet and hood, they hide behind a cause, this time health care.

Do the Republican Party really think this is productive or helpful? Again, when someone ends up hurt, the finger will be pointed at the Republican Party for lack of moral courage and lack of leadership.

There have been some pretty nasty banners waved around by the town hall crowds protesting the Democrats’ health overhaul plans in recent days, but none reaches the level of that held up today in Hagerstown, Md., where Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) sought to sell the reform strategy for a second straight day. “Death to Obama,” one protester had written on “a small, handwritten cardboard sign,” according to The Hill.

While the former Governor of Alaska continues to create unnecessary havoc and invoke incorrect information into the health care debate, her polling numbers are droppping like a rock.

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's standing among the American public has plummeted in recent weeks, as the potential 2012 presidential candidate has weighed in forcefully (and inaccurately) into the health care debate.

A new CNN Poll shows that Palin's favorability rating has fallen seven percentage points since May, from 46 percent to 39 percent. Anything under the 50 percent mark is considered problematic, especially when the politician is a known quantity (only five percent of the public said they had never heard of the former governor). Fully 48 percent of those polled said they had an unfavorable impression of Palin. read more here....

Palin's latest shenanigans with total incorrectness of the health care bill, hurt her more than help her. Her continuous statements of various issues, continues to show just how CLUELESS she really is on policy, politics and the public.

If this is what the Republicans want for 2012, GO AHEAD. And good luck.

The Department of Homeland Security was blasted earlier this year about a report that militia participation was on the rise, but more importantly who was participating. Joe Scarborough and those at morning joe, blasted Secretary Janet Napolitano on her report.

Well, no one is laughing now and NO ONE is disspelling this report on the rise of militia activity in this country. After watching these town hall meetings, seeing a man bring a gun to Obama's town hall meetting, what do you thing?

Militia groups with gripes against the government are regrouping across the country and could grow rapidly, according to an organization that tracks such trends.

The stress of a poor economy and a liberal administration led by a black president are among the causes for the recent rise, the report from the Southern Poverty Law Center says. Conspiracy theories about a secret Mexican plan to reclaim the Southwest are also growing amid the public debate about illegal immigration.

Bart McEntire, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told SPLC researchers that this is the most growth he's seen in more than a decade.

"All it's lacking is a spark," McEntire said in the report.

It's reminiscent of what was seen in the 1990s – right-wing militias, people ideologically against paying taxes and so-called "sovereign citizens" are popping up in large numbers, according to the report to be released Wednesday. The SPLC is a nonprofit civil rights group that, among other activities, investigates hate groups.

Last October, someone from the Ohio Militia posted a recruiting video on YouTube, billed as a "wake-up call" for America. It's been viewed more than 60,000 times.

"Things are bad, things are real bad, and it's going to be a lot worse," said the man on the video, who did not give his name. "Our country is in peril."

The man is holding an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, and he encourages viewers to buy one. read it all here...

As these town halls are going on around the country, one thing is for sure, the anger is manufactured by a small sliver of people pumped by the lobbyist and insurance companies. That is a fact. If anyone watch these town hall meetings, which is starting to turn many Americans OFF, their concerns are over the top and they sound very UNINFORMED. They come prepared with false talking points and this "don't take my medicare away" is a sure indication that these people don't understand nor do they know what they are talking about.

Sarah Palin has not helped the political discourse, period. For me, she is as smart, sharp as a box of rocks, and that is not much. She has been blasted by Senator Johnny Isakson and now Murkowski for out right lying about the health care bill and death panels.

Finally, the general public is looking and are not dumb. Seeing a man bring a gun to a presidential town hall meeting, no matter what side of the aisle you are on is not a good thing. If something happens out here to ANYONE, the finger pointing will definitely go back to the Republican Party, for their lack of moral responsibility and leadership.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski on Tuesday told an Anchorage crowd that critics of health care reform, the summer's hottest political topic, aren't helping the debate by throwing out highly charged assertions not based in fact.

"It does us no good to incite fear in people by saying that there's these end-of-life provisions, these death panels," Murkowski, a Republican, said. "Quite honestly, I'm so offended at that terminology because it absolutely isn't (in the bill). There is no reason to gin up fear in the American public by saying things that are not included in the bill."

Murkowski's analysis of the health-care reform measures was delivered to a Commonwealth North crowd of about 130 at the Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center. The nonpartisan group focuses on public policy issues.

Former Gov. Sarah Palin stirred up controversy last week by suggesting on her Facebook page that people like her parents and Down syndrome son might have to appear before "Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil."

Experts who have reviewed the various pieces of legislation, which run for hundreds of pages, say there's no such provision. read more here....

Yesterday, Isksaon called Sarah Palin a NUT for calling living wills, death panels. Well, today he was acknowledged and praised by President Obama at the New Hampshire Town Hall Meeting on health care for the actual language of the living will section of the senate bill that the GOP has tried to hi-jack as, "death panels, seniors will die, etc."

Well, I guess good ol' boy Johnny was feeling the HEAT because he is attempting to back track it all, even to the point that he never said anything about living wills!!

U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., today denounced comments made by President Obama and his spokesman regarding Isakson’s alleged connection to language contained in the House health care bill on “end-of-life counseling.”

Isakson vehemently opposes the House and Senate health care bills and he played no role in drafting language added to the House bill by House Democrats calling for the government to incentivize doctors by offering them money to conduct “end-of-life counseling” with Medicare patients every five years. Isakson also strongly opposed the House bill language calling for doctors to follow a government-mandated list of topics to discuss with patients during the counseling sessions. read it all here...

Well, the heat must be something FIERCE, but Johnny-Boy, words do matter and these are your EXACT words on the living will matter. From April 24, 2008

I will talk about what we need to do in terms of Medicare eligibility. When somebody signs up for Medicare when they are 65 years old--you are supposed to go in 90 days before your 65th birthday; I am getting close, so I am looking at these things--I think you ought to be required to execute a durable power of attorney when you become eligible. Eighty percent of the cost of health care to me, to you, and to anybody else happens in the last 60 days of life. More often than not, people are not in a condition to make a decision for themselves. Because of laws, and because we are a compassionate nation, the physician will keep you alive as long as he can. If you had a chance, you might rather say if I am being hydrated and given nutrition but will never become conscious again, I give the doctors the authority to make the appropriate medical decision. The money that would save is in the ``gazillions'' of dollars--if there is such a number. It would help us to manage that cost.

See, Johnny you can not have it both ways. Can't drink from both wells. There is nothing wrong in what you stated about living wills. More and more Americans are following your EXACT advice and preparing their end of life wishes.

Johnny, I would respect you more for standing up to what is right, as you did yesterday in calling Sarah Palin a nut, because she is. To stretch living wills as death panels is too much of a stretch for most, and you stated so, but the heat from the Republicans, GOP, King Rush, Glenn Beck, Teabaggers, Birthers, Right Wing Extremists much be too much for you to bear. So, you opted to attempt to denounce everything you said.

I have repeatedly wrote, "the internet, email, twitter is a bitch". These tools constantly catch you when it is too late for your to catch yourself. It is out there Johnny-Boy and the President of the United States salute you, for standing on the right side of the aisle. For health care.

The man has LIED about practically everything and now life comes turning FULL CIRCLE on him. Emails and everything indicates that he was deeply involved in the firings of former U.S. Attorneys, especially former U.S. Attorney, David Igelsias, out of New Mexico. It is all here.

Former White House political adviser Karl Rove was deeply involved in the firing of a U.S. attorney in New Mexico, according to White House e-mails and transcripts of closed-door testimony released Tuesday.

The House Judiciary Committee released more than 5,400 pages of White House and Republican National Committee e-mails, along with transcripts of closed-door testimony by Rove and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers.

The documents show that staffers in Rove's office were actively seeking to have U.S. Attorney David Iglesias removed. In one e-mail in 2005, Rove aide Scott Jennings sent an e-mail to another Rove aide, saying, "I would really like to move forward with getting rid of NM US ATTY."

No wonder the Republicans, especially the Bush White House desperately needed a Republican back in the White House. These emails are bomb shells.

The ensuing uproar led to a series of damaging revelations about the Bush administration's political meddling with the Justice Department and the eventual resignation of then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Iglesias said in an interview Tuesday he was nauseated by the whole affair.

"It's exactly what I feared. Over two years ago, I said that all roads lead to Rove," Iglesias said. "I've said consistently that he was highly involved, and now the evidence is there."

Rove's lawyer, Robert Luskin, did not immediately return a call for comment.

Miers was interviewed by House Judiciary Committee lawyers on June 15. Rove was interviewed July 7 and 30.

Glenn Beck can not go around calling the President of the United States a "racist". The comment was over the top and absurd, obviously his advertisers were feeling the heat and agreed with the petition from Color of Change.

Great news -- yet another major company has acted in response to our campaign calling on Glenn Beck's advertisers to stop supporting his show. GEICO told us that they will no longer run ads during Beck's show.

This comes on the heels of news last week that four other advertisers -- Lawyers.com, Progressive Insurance, Procter & Gamble, and SC Johnson -- also distanced themselves from Beck. None of this would have been possible without the thousands of people -- more than 75,000, now -- who have taken action and signed our petition to Glenn Beck's advertisers. read the rest here....

Geico Insurance Company is a big one, as well as Sargento Cheese, who have also said, "Adios" to Beck and FOX NEWS.

This is NO JOKE and again, DANGEROUS. GOP allowing this kind of scare tactics is totally irresponsible.

MSNBC just aired footage of the crowd gathering at the Obama town hall meeting on health care that's supposed to start later today in New Hampshire and pointed out one man in a group holding protest signs with a gun in a holster on his hip. Apparently not a law officer, but a civilian.

Whatever the concealed carry laws in New Hampshire, you have to figure guns not allowed at a presidential event. Right?

Late Update: Also important to note, the gun-toting protestor was holding a sign referencing the Jefferson quote: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants." It's a well known quote from one of the archetypal founding fathers. And in itself it's part of the American heritage, something that echoes with Jefferson's always ambivalent and frequently dilettantish attitude toward political violence. But in the context of these townhall excesses and while carrying a firearm at a presidential event, it's quite a menacing statement, in as much as it is about the need to kill tyrants. -- jmm

I am for gun rights, a gun owner, but I do not understand the logic of anyone carrying a gun to a presidential visit. Can anyone explain that to me?

Card Check, these folks don't like unions...again, know your history, we would not have paid days off, weekends off, HEALTH CARE, without the FIGHT of the UNION....and Cap and Trade? It will send jobs to China and India? HELLO? The jobs are already THERE, dude!!

Monday, August 10, 2009

I have no idea. I understand -- and you have to check this out -- I just had a phone call where someone said Sarah Palin's web site had talked about the House bill having death panels on it where people would be euthanized. How someone could take an end of life directive or a living will as that is nuts. You're putting the authority in the individual rather than the government. I don't know how that got so mixed up.

Isakson fully CLARIFIES that the end of life directive is about a living will. Something both of my parents have, decisions they made for end of life. Many Americans have these wills and the Republican Party and all these insurance operatives have distorted and hi-jacked this phrasing for "killing seniors".

Mr. Obama plans to hold the town-hall meetings Tuesday in Portsmouth, N.H., Friday in Bozeman, Mont., and Saturday in Grand Junction, Colo. A White House official said participants wouldn't be screened to keep out opponents.

Mr. Obama, who has previously focused on cutting overall health spending, will now emphasize how the legislation would fix three specific problems, according to the White House official. An overhaul would end the practice of denying insurance coverage to people with a pre-existing illness; keep people from losing their coverage if they get sick; and protect Americans who face high out-of-pocket medical costs, the official said Mr. Obama would say.

The White House has been upstaged in recent days by a series of congressional town-hall meetings that turned rowdy after attendees shouted questions about the president's top domestic-policy priority. The official said cabinet members and other advisers would be dispatched to echo the president's message about fixing the three problems. read more here....

CIVILITY, a word that many out there need to use or LOOK UP and apply.

Americans have been waiting for nearly a century for quality, affordable health care.

Health coverage for all was on the national agenda as early as 1912, thanks to Teddy Roosevelt's Bull Moose presidential run. Months after World War II came to an end in 1945, President Harry Truman called on Congress to guarantee all Americans the "right to adequate medical care and protection from the economic fears of sickness." From President Lyndon Johnson to President Bill Clinton, to President Obama's winning campaign on the promise of reform, there hasn't been a more debated domestic issue than the promise of affordable health care for all.

(Steny Hoyer)

(Nancy Pelosi/USA TODAY)

We believe it is healthy for such a historic effort to be subject to so much scrutiny and debate. The failure of past attempts is a reminder that health insurance reform is a defining moment in our nation's history — it is well worth the time it takes to get it right. We are confident that we will get this right.

Already, three House committees have passed this critical legislation and over August, the two of us will work closely with those three committees to produce one strong piece of legislation that the House will approve in September.

In the meantime, as members of Congress spend time at home during August, they are talking with their constituents about reform. The dialogue between elected representatives and constituents is at the heart of our democracy and plays an integral role in assuring that the legislation we write reflects the genuine needs and concerns of the people we represent.

However, it is now evident that an ugly campaign is underway not merely to misrepresent the health insurance reform legislation, but to disrupt public meetings and prevent members of Congress and constituents from conducting a civil dialogue. These tactics have included hanging in effigy one Democratic member of Congress in Maryland and protesters holding a sign displaying a tombstone with the name of another congressman in Texas, where protesters also shouted "Just say no!" drowning out those who wanted to hold a substantive discussion. continue reading it here....

First, she jumps into the health care debate, stating things that are totally untrue, like the DEATH PANEL. Then she, AGAIN, throws one of her kids into the mix as an example. Oh, yeah, expect her to whine her way against the MEDIA again, for something SHE purposely did. Now she is asking for CIVILITY in the health care debate?

The woman is irrational. She continues to make incoherent statements, also known as "just making shit up on the fly", but expects the public to take her seriously?

PLEASE.

After making an extraordinary, unsupported and incendiary claim that President Obama's health care plan will result in a "death panel" that is fundamentally "evil," Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin is now calling for civility in the debate on health care reform.

[snip]

Now, in her latest Facebook entry, Palin seems to be wanting to change the subject. She writes:

There are many disturbing details in the current bill that Washington is trying to rush through Congress, but we must stick to a discussion of the issues and not get sidetracked by tactics that can be accused of leading to intimidation or harassment. Such tactics diminish our nation's civil discourse which we need now more than ever because the fine print in this outrageous health care proposal must be understood clearly and not get lost in conscientious voters' passion to want to make elected officials hear what we are saying. Let's not give the proponents of nationalized health care any reason to criticize us.

The White House is stepping up its efforts to promote health care reform with the launch of a new Web initiative that officials say is designed to combat misinformation about the issue.

Citing what it calls "a troubling trend" of "wild rumors and scare tactics," the White House Monday announced the launch of http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/, a new Web page which "focuses on what reform really means for you and your family" and "debunks some common myths along the way," White House New Media Director Macon Phillips wrote on the official White House blog.

In keeping with President Obama's use of social networking sites to engage and utilize his network of supporters during his presidential campaign, the new page also provides users with a number of ways to notify their own networks of contacts about the page and its content.

The Web page features half a dozen videos from Obama aides who discuss various aspects of health care reform and it also has a set of "faq's" or frequently asked questions about health care reform.

"Moving forward, we'll use this platform to provide you with the latest 'Reality Checks' and tools to combat misinformation," Phillips writes in the blog post announcing the new Web page.

The launch of the new administration Web page comes two days after Obama used his weekly Internet and radio address to address recent attacks on Democratic efforts to pass health care reform legislation. In the address, Obama responded to "outlandish rumors that reform will promote euthanasia, cut Medicaid, or bring about a government takeover of health care."

Obama's comments came one day after former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin posted a message on Facebook that suggested Obama's agenda for health care reform, if passed, would deny care to her parents and to her youngest child, Trig, who was born with Down's Syndrome.

The White House's aggressive move to defend health care reform also comes after a week where town halls meetings with congressmen across the country have been attended and disrupted by citizens concerned about the possible adverse effects of health care reform.

From the time Barack Obama took office as president until the end of June, 63% of Americans, on average, approved of the job he was doing. The breakdown of his half-year approval ratings at the state level shows that Obama's approval rating was above 50% in all but two states, Wyoming and Alaska. His highest approval ratings were in the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Vermont, Maryland, and Massachusetts.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

When this article came out by the New York Times many waited to see or hear if the Obama Administration would rebuke it, but they were mum.

Pressed by industry lobbyists, White House officials on Wednesday assured drug makers that the administration stood by a behind-the-scenes deal to block any Congressional effort to extract cost savings from them beyond an agreed-upon $80 billion.

Drug industry lobbyists reacted with alarm this week to a House health care overhaul measure that would allow the government to negotiate drug prices and demand additional rebates from drug manufacturers.

In response, the industry successfully demanded that the White House explicitly acknowledge for the first time that it had committed to protect drug makers from bearing further costs in the overhaul. The Obama administration had never spelled out the details of the agreement.

“We were assured: ‘We need somebody to come in first. If you come in first, you will have a rock-solid deal,’ ” Billy Tauzin, the former Republican House member from Louisiana who now leads the pharmaceutical trade group, said Wednesday. “Who is ever going to go into a deal with the White House again if they don’t keep their word? You are just going to duke it out instead.”

A deputy White House chief of staff, Jim Messina, confirmed Mr. Tauzin’s account of the deal in an e-mail message on Wednesday night.

“The president encouraged this approach,” Mr. Messina wrote. “He wanted to bring all the parties to the table to discuss health insurance reform.”

As we look for COST SAVINGS in restructuring the health care system, of course, you look at the cost of DRUGS the government purchases from the pharmaceutical companies. President Bush took serious heat on his Medicare bill for prescription drugs, primarily that it was a win-win for pharmaceutical companies. And it was. Now with the health care fight at an all time high, mostly from organized insurance companies and lobbyist groups, deals must be brokered.

With this deal, the pharmaceutical industry is ready to spend $150 Million Dollars in advertising for the Obama Administration health care plan.

The drug industry has authorized its lobbyists to spend as much as $150 million on television commercials supporting President Obama’s health care overhaul, beginning over the August Congressional recess, people briefed on the plans said Saturday.

The unusually large scale of the industry’s commitment to the cause helps explain some of a contentious back-and-forth playing out in recent days between the odd-couple allies over a deal that the White House struck with the industry in June to secure its support. The terms of the deal were not fully disclosed. Both sides had announced that the drug industry would contribute $80 billion over 10 years to the cost of the health care overhaul without spelling out the details.

The reason that bits and pieces are being leaked out is that congressional democrats were prepared and ready to go after the pharmaceutical industry for MORE MONEY. The industry got worried and leaked the information to the press. This put the pressure on the Obama Administration to come forward with what the deal is, and they have.

For this deal, the Obama Administration will get ads run on television about health care reform supported by the pharmaceutical industry. These ads are to run in all 50 states.

That is the deal with the devil.

As my husband said, "Well, he had to make a deal with somebody." Yes, I guess he did but it will be an eye opener for many when they will recall what Candidate Obama promised to do.

Obama: "Congress exempted Medicare from being able to negotiate for the cheapest available price. And that was a profound..."

(Starts 4 minutes, 9 seconds in.) "Of course," Obama said on June 3, 2007, "part of that has to do with the fact that, with the Medicare prescription drug bill, for example, the Congress specifically exempted Medicare from being able to negotiate for the cheapest available price. And that was a profound mistake."

Obama: "Unless we change that politics, we're going to continue to see the waste that we're seeing in the entitlement programs"....

That is the problem. Candidate Obama campaigned against what the Bush Administration did with blocking Medicare from negotiating for cheaper drug prices. In the Bush bill Medicare is prohibited from negotiating and MUST take the prices that is given by the pharmacetical companies.

The Obama deal does practically the same thing, because let's be real, 80 Billion in cuts from the pharmaceutical industry is NOTHING, compared to what is actually raked in yearly by these companies.

Politics as usual. Deals cut that many won't like. Will there really be any reform?

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